CBN to start deducting N614 bln bailout fund from 35 states from July

States that received budget support facilities from the federal government four years ago are expected to start refunding the money from this month, according to a statement by the special assistant to the Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo on media and publicity, Laolu Akande.

At the end of the National Economic Council (NEC) virtual meeting on Thursday, the repayment schedule following agreement reached by governors and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

“In the same vein, the Council received updates on the FG Budget Support Facility to States as the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning informed the Council that with the agreement reached on the matter with the CBN providing a bridge financing facility to the States, deductions from State Governments will now commence from July,” Akande said in the statement.

The federal government through the CBN extended the N614 billion budget support facility (BSF) advanced to states, in 2017 to help them pay their workers’ salary and settle their pension obligations due to shortfall in revenue from oil.

The loans were granted to the states at a nine per cent interest rate, with a two years grace period to repay.

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The finance ministry is expected to deduct the fund from the affected states’ allocations from the Federation Accounts beginning from July.

Also, at the meeting, the finance minister Zainab Ahmed put the balance in the country excess crude accout (ECA) at $60,852,533.19 at of July 14, 2021 and the stabilisation account at N26,346,419,015.43 as of the same period.

The balance in the development of natural resources account at  N23,573,977,607.78 as of July 13, 2021.

NEC urged strict adherence to the COVID-19 response guidelines across the country, after receiving a regular state performance report from the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).
According to the report, the Coronavirus positivity rate has gone up in the country just as 3 cases of the Delta variant have now been detected.